Barbara R. Axelrod

Philadelphia Appellate & Trial Attorney

Barbara R. Axelrod first came to Jim Beasley Sr.'s attention in 1989
as an assistant city solicitor working for the City of Philadelphia. Barbara
wrote a brief that prompted the state Supreme Court to vacate a $3.8 million
judgment that Beasley had won in the case of
Scarborough v. Reading Railroad.

The case involved a then-9 year-old boy, Eddie Scarborough, who had hopped
a freight train for a short ride, but slipped and fell under when he tried
to get off, suffering the loss of both legs below the knee. Beasley sued
the railroad and the city for negligence, arguing that the city should
have repaired a hole in the fence that Eddie Scarborough climbed through
on his way to the railroad tracks.

The railroad opted to settle its portion of the case for $1.3 million.
The City of Philadelphia appealed, however, and Barbara argued that the
city was not liable for negligence on adjoining property that it didn't
own or control. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed, and vacated the
then-record verdict.

Beasley didn't like the decision, but he did take note of the lawyer
who beat him and subsequently hired Barbara to handle his appeals.

Legal Education

A native of Philadelphia, Barbara was a 1973 cum laude graduate of Middlebury
College, where she received her B.A., and a 1977 graduate of Villanova
University, where she received her J.D.

Previous Experience & Background

She worked for the City of Philadelphia's Law Department from 1977
to 1989, rising to Divisional Deputy Solicitor in that time. She has been
a participant in the Myrna Marshall Moot Court Competition. She has also
served as chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association's Appellate Courts
Committee.

Memberships

Philadelphia Bar

Pennsylvania Bar

U.S. Court of Appeals

U.S. District Court

Eastern District of Pennsylvania

U.S. Supreme Court

Extensive Record of Courtroom Success

At The Beasley Firm, Barbara has won many appeals in areas such as medical
malpractice, product liability, personal injury, and libel.

In
Zieber v. Bogert, Barbara successfully argued that a plaintiff who suffers continued growth
and metastasis of a tumor, due to failure to timely diagnose his condition,
has sustained a physical injury for which compensatory damages may be awarded.

In
Sprague v. Walter, Barbara's appeal resulted in the upholding of a record $24 million
libel verdict against the Philadelphia Inquirer, on behalf of former prosecutor
Richard A. Sprague. In
Doe v. Raezer, Barbara's appeals work resulted in the reversal of a remittur, and
the reinstatement of a $2.25 million jury verdict on behalf of the plaintiff.

In
Mitzelfelt v. Kamrin, Barbara successfully argued that a jury properly found in favor of an
injured patient whose medical expert testified that a doctor's negligence
had increased the risk that she would suffer harm. This victory overturned
a series of lower court cases that held that a patient could not recover
damages when there was a possibility she would have suffered harm anyway
as a result of her disease.

Office Location

Contact Us

The information on this website is for general information purposes only.
Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual
case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt
or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. Please
note: All cases are different and past results do not predict future case outcomes.

x

⚠

Your browser is out of date. To get the full experience of this website,
please update to most recent version.